Free A Shade of Dragon by Bella Forrest

if he was deaf.
    I narrowed my eyes. She had to know that Andrew didn’t give a hoot whether or not I attended the Christmas Eve party at her lake house, and that I was interested in Theon. If previous incidents were any indication, Andrew was obsessing over Michelle right about now, and would be heartbroken if she snatched Theon as she obviously intended.
    Michelle’s air-headed persona got her out of a lot of jams, but it didn’t work on me. She knew what she was doing. Still… I was trapped. If I didn’t attend, I’d get the overnight reputation of a coward and a sore loser. My pride wouldn’t allow for that. I’d rather suffer at the lake house. “Sounds fun,” I told her, giving no indication of how annoying I found her behavior to be. “We’ll be there.”
    “We?” Michelle prompted.
    My cheeks flamed and I whirled, remembering Theon. “Oh, I’m sorry, Theon. I didn’t even think about asking you first. But if you’d like to come with me—”
    Theon smiled down at me and touched my hair, adjusting a few errant strands which fluttered against my cheek. He pushed them behind my ear and then let his fingers linger at my jaw for a moment. “It would be my honor to attend the local festivities with you,” he whispered. His golden eyes glowed, and his voice was so low, I felt as if this exchange was truly ours alone.
    “Great,” I breathed.
    “Well, this is adorable.” Michelle’s voice brought Shoreside and the December sunshine back. “But it’s almost five o’clock, and I’ve got some stockings to stuff, so how about mochas? Anybody? Mochas?”
    “Almost five o’clock?” Where had the day gone? How long had we been skating together? When I’d gotten here, it hadn’t even been noon yet—and I’d spent a couple hours shopping, and then I’d run into Theon, and… oh, crap. I’d lost all track of time. “My dad is going to kill me. I told him I’d be back before three.”
    “Oh, no,” Michelle cooed. “Well, we’ll see you at the lake house, then. Theon? Mochas?”
    “Afraid I must decline, Lady Ballinger,” Theon said over his shoulder, hardly gracing Michelle with a glance. “It is time that I, too, take flight.”
    Michelle lowered her lashes and examined me more closely, as if realizing that her sidekick had developed into competition. “All right.” Her bright smile was put on again. “Well, it was nice to meet you, Theon, and Nell… Call me when you find your phone, ’kay?” She winked and turned on her heel, traipsing into Carmella’s and leaving us to stare after her.
    “Hm,” Theon said when the door was closed behind her. He turned to me. “She’s really a friend of yours?”
    “Kind of,” I answered hesitantly. “What’s the ‘hm’ for?”
    “She seems to have the propensity for great evil, as well as goodness. It is interesting to see someone who is partially mired in their dark side.”
    “Am I not partially mired in my dark side?”
    At this, Theon smiled. “No, not at all,” he whispered. “Go see your father. Tomorrow, at sunset, I will collect you from his home for this gathering with Lady Ballinger. Does that sound suitable to you?”
    I wondered if I’d ever cease to be taken aback by his way with words. “Sounds great,” I said, feeling suddenly—perhaps for the first time ever—intellectually mediocre.

Chapter 16: Nell
    I told Dad about the gathering. I got his approval. I waited for Theon. The sun set, the sky darkened, the stars came out… and still there was no knock at the door.
    I bit my lip and migrated from the den to the porch. The December wind sliced through me and I wound my wool-lined denim jacket tighter around myself. I peered down to the beach below, glanced at the distant beach house near the cave. Nothing. No lights. No silhouette on the sand. No one was coming.
    Steadily, my eyebrows settled into two flat lines on my forehead. He wasn’t coming.
    I stepped back inside, the heat thawing my fingers and